"Best" lists from this past year...does not need to be curriculum, but can be

[Pen]

We school year round, and one problem is not feeling like there is an end point or celebration point of a year being done, but I am thinking that looking back at the highlights might be a good process to add, even if we are going right on.

 

I am busy compiling a list which I will share as soon as I get it figured out. I think I will ask my son for his top choices, not just use my own opinion on it.

 

I'd love to hear anyone else's.

[Ethel Mertz]

W&R - my writing-phobic DS is finally writing. I even caught him looking ahead in the book.

[Momof3littles]

My absolute favorite both last year and this year has been MCT's LA materials from RFWP: Island and Town level.  My favorite to teach, and my kids have just eaten it up and learned so much.  As have I!  We are just entering the middle grade/logic stage though.

[Chrysalis Academy]

For Shannon, my highlights have been:  First, the combo of Jousting Armadillos + Zaccaro Real World Algebra for PreAlgebra, and watching her develop into a fearless problem-solver who is willing to grapple with her math and really understand it. And second, our home-made modern history, which strayed from a text and included a lot of nonfiction and fiction reading, discussion, and writing assignments.  Even though it didn't go exactly as planned, it was an excellent year of history and it has transformed how I think about teaching history in the future.

 

For Morgan, the highlight of the year has been figuring out how to work with her, and seeing her get over her school anxiety and embrace learning, and watching her become a reader.  Seeing her sitting in a chair with a book that covers her whole lap, reading away for hours, looking up occasionally to read me a funny passage and chuckle, then dive back into her book, is one of the joys of my life.

 

My best curriculum find, besides JA, has been CAP's Writing & Rhetoric.  We all love it, and I have high hopes it will be a curriculum we'll use throughout.

 

I'll have to ask the girls for their highlights when they wake up.

[madteaparty]

Galore Park Junior English, Galore Park French, Singapore (as usual).

[jonnia]

I'm with Momof3littles on MCT's LA. Love it!

 

My son would tell you the best thing he's done this year is Youth Digital's Mods for Mincraft course (Java) he does online. This company offers generous, deep content in an excellent format. We will most definitely be signing up for more of their courses.

http://www.youthdigital.com

[deerforest]

We are transitioning to this stage now but what we are working on is directly en route to our history studies in the fall. I have always designed our own history and in preparation for the ancients in the fall, we have done a science and history combo similar to Big History and a lot of geology and evolution. We have found so many excellent resources and are using OUPs prehistory book as one of them. DD and I both are having so much fun. Lucy, Tuang child, and Turkana boy (and others!) are among her friends this year I think!

[In2why]

The Key to series.   Reviewing fractions in depth to make sure he really understood was necessary, and the Key To Series is so fantastic that I ordered them all.  

[Targhee]

For my middle schooler, the Best things this year:

 

3) AoPS PreAlgebra

 

2) Leadership class (Williamsburg Intermediate)

 

1) Participating in First Lego League and Science Olympiad

[Momof3littles]

I'm with Momof3littles on MCT's LA. Love it!

 

My son would tell you the best thing he's done this year is Youth Digital's Mods for Mincraft course (Java) he does online. This company offers generous, deep content in an excellent format. We will most definitely be signing up for more of their courses.

http://www.youthdigital.com

 

My DS1 really wants to do this.  I think we may have to give it a try.  Thanks for your input!!!

[MinivanMom]

MCT lang arts, Galore Park French, and (finally) allowing dd to start a second instrument. I thought two instruments would be overwhelming, but she is thrilled and thriving.

[AMJ]

This is our first year homeschooling, having switched from private school.  Our year is drastically different from how we started due to lots of unexpected life changes and general learning the ropes of homeschooling.  I'd say our biggest BEST is how much we are enjoying homeschooling (especially me).  The kids love not working so long during the day (we get more done in less time than when they attended brick & mortar school), and I love having them around and watching the wheels go around in their heads. 

 

The absolute BEST in my view is getting to learn, discover, and play along side my kids and really get to know how their minds work and grow.

 

My kids love the lack of tests, the amount of choice they get in covering lessons, the shorter hours, the ability to add in more stuff they are interested in.  They like less when Mom is a stickler or they just don't feel like working, but we are learning how to negotiate, too.  They also loved monthly field trips and shopping trips.

 

We haven't gotten everything totally sussed out, but we are making strides and allowing ourselves the flexibility to change what we truly don't like.

 

We also homeschool year 'round, but I'm using this summer to catch up on "electives" we let slide when life got in the way, and to have more get-out-and-about time.  I want to shake ourselves out of the muddling-through mentality we have gotten into (while dealing with life's surprises this semester) so we can start the Fall with a freshened state of mind.

 

Best decision I've made since choosing DH and having kids with him!

[Luckymama]

The best thing about this year------being very relaxed, letting dd explore her interests in math and science to the detriment, at times, of other classes.

 

We won't have quite as much freedom for the next four years, as there will be requirements she will have to follow.

[Pen]

Well, no answer from ds, so it will have to be my own impressions--

 

Learning about nutrition as the main part of science for the year; getting chickens. 

 

History that was meant to be US history but turned into modern world history, plus rabbit trails such as into the history of the Islamic world.

 

Returning to guitar.

[Aurelia]

DD says:

Getting Started with Latin (she asks to do Latin!)

Lial's Basic College Math (her math confidence is back, and she likes that she can do "college" math, she was really bogged down with CLE)

guitar lessons (though she now wants voice lessons, too)

horseback riding, training (she now occasionally gets paid to help train horses with our neighbor. It's almost her dream job)

 

For me:

CAP Writing & Rhetoric (so easy to get done)

SOTW4 (really working well for her age/maturity level, she's finally retaining some of her history lessons)

exercise program for me (I have more energy, and I think I'm a happier person when I do it. Everyone loves it when Mom is happy.)

 

[madteaparty]

My son would tell you the best thing he's done this year is Youth Digital's Mods for Mincraft course (Java) he does online. This company offers generous, deep content in an excellent format. We will most definitely be signing up for more of their courses.

http://www.youthdigital.com

 

My son just started this and he agrees! For reference, he did not feel the same about Scratch.

 

I have to add our trip to DC to the Best of.. Took DS and his best friend and it was great fun.

 

[Abeille]

Reading To Kill a Mockingbird out loud together. I did this with my oldest as well (he's in ps, but we made it a summer project). The book has so much depth, and led to many wonderful discussions. We finished up by watching the film.

 

Taking a day trip to NYC to see several of the Velasquez paintings described in I Juan de Pareja, after reading the book.

 

For curriculum, MCT grammar and vocab is always a hit here. DS says Getting Started with Latin is another one of his favorites. It got him interested enough in pursuing Latin that he's asked to take an online class now that he's beyond my own familiarity with it.

[Alte Veste Academy]

Without a doubt, it has been doing current events as a subject and linking that with physical and cultural geography.

[Pen]

Without a doubt, it has been doing current events as a subject and linking that with physical and cultural geography.

 

 

I'm going to be trying this! I feel like we caught up to the present with our overview study of history.

 

Can you give any more information on exactly what you did that turned out well?

[arborite]

This sounds great! Can you please say how much time this took? Wondering if it could work for a summer course.

 

 

My son would tell you the best thing he's done this year is Youth Digital's Mods for Mincraft course (Java) he does online. This company offers generous, deep content in an excellent format. We will most definitely be signing up for more of their courses.

http://www.youthdigital.com

[Alte Veste Academy]

I'm going to be trying this! I feel like we caught up to the present with our overview study of history.

 

Can you give any more information on exactly what you did that turned out well?

Honestly, it is so ridiculously easy. You just read the news together, whether daily news or general reports from magazines or online sources. Discuss it. Map it. (We use one of those huge 4x6 blackline maps from Rainbow Resource.) Dig in deeper for topics that interest you most. Pull up videos. Use Google Earth to see the actual location of the event. Recall what relevant history you know. If necessary to increase understanding of the story, further research the history leading up to the event. For cultural/holiday events, maybe make a recipe, e-visit a museum, monument, celebration via web sites. Basically, you just dig in and go.

[Kelly1730]

Current events and geography are going to be our focus for 7th grade as we've come to the end of the "cycle". I'm looking forward to it. Hope the boys are:).

[Nicholas_mom]

My son loved: Ellen McHenry's Botany in 8 Lessons

                       My homemade Geology/Paleontology class I put together with rabbit trails of evolution

                       LOF Fractions - Decimals & Percents

                       MCT LA - Paragraph Town

                       MCT - Literature Study - Alice in Wonderland, Wind in the Willows

                       Literature Study of Lightning Thief -- this was great after we did Ancient Greek

                      Philosophy for Kids

                       Greek History

                       Trumpet in Band

                       

WOW!  I just realized he liked a lot that we did this year.  I hope I can duplicate some good things for next year :)

[....]

Ellen McHenry's The Elements (chemistry)

Life of Fred Beginning Algebra with the Zillion Practice Problem book

Notgrass' America the Beautiful

[Guest Fire]

The Key to series.   Reviewing fractions in depth to make sure he really understood was necessary, and the Key To Series is so fantastic that I ordered them all.  

 

Fully on board w/ this statement we use Keys to, Aleks, and Thinkwell this year.  We nearly finished Thinkwell, completed the pie for Aleks, and are utilizing the Keys as tests our final.

[....]

Fully on board w/ this statement we use Keys to, Aleks, and Thinkwell this year.  We nearly finished Thinkwell, completed the pie for Aleks, and are utilizing the Keys as tests our final.

 

I don't comment on it a lot, but we are also huge fans of the Key to... Series.   :thumbup1:   You really can't beat the price, too.  We love those little workbooks!

[sagira]

Bests for this year (we are not done yet) are..

 

Ds10, 5th grade:

 

SOTW 4 (we love the whole series)

BFSU 2

Bill Nye The Science Guy videos

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Evan Moor's The 7 Continents Series: Asia

Duolingo

 

For dd6, 1st grade:

 

Noah Webster's Reading Handbook

Complete Book of Spanish K-3

Arnold Lobel readers

Literature selections, such as Betsy-Tacy, Charlotte's Web, Mr Popper's Penguins, My Father's Dragon series

[audreyinboston]

I'm with Momof3littles on MCT's LA. Love it!

 

My son would tell you the best thing he's done this year is Youth Digital's Mods for Mincraft course (Java) he does online. This company offers generous, deep content in an excellent format. We will most definitely be signing up for more of their courses.

http://www.youthdigital.com

 

My son and daughter have both enjoyed this (along with Scratch).  This would totally be do-able for a summer project.

 

I'll just speak for myself since mostly what my kids like is our read-alouds.

 

I liked using Lingua Latina for our first venture into learning Latin.  For some reason this just really works for us as opposed to most of the grammar-oriented programs.  Side note: I personally went through Wheelock a few years ago, and I am enjoying this so much more.

 

KISS grammar is awesome (though my kids still moan about grammar)--I can't believe how much I have learned about grammar.  Best of all, it is free!  http://www.kissgrammar.org/

 

Spanish was good using online tutoring at http://spanish.academy/  Native speakers teaching my two kids, 'nuff said.

 

My son enjoyed our own pulled-together science program on biome biology, which used books and videos from the library, worksheets from various websites, a making model biomes.

[Lucy]

Another vote for Mod 1 at youth digital.  For those of you who have looked at it and thought, man that's just too much money, I'm telling you it has been money well spent at our house!  Definitely a fav here and she has learned soooooo much!  The instructors respond to her questions by the next day, the teaching videos are funny and full of info, the instructions are step by step, and the kids get to be immensely creative.  My dd is doing 3D game design 1 next.  You can buy them for cheaper through the homeschool buyers co-op.

[Elisabet1]

Everything that was a hit years ago, we returned to by the end of this year and it became a hit again.

 

Spelling Workout has been with us since the beginning...2003. BJU English has too. We returned to Singapore Math this year, which is where we started.  We recently started Story of the World again and it is a hit, again. And on the side..Karate and Gymnastics has been a hit. 

 

Win that is new: Foerster's Algebra (I used Jacob's in the past, which is also great)

 

This year's fails: Dance, Horizon's preAlgebra, MUS, Cello

[happypamama]

The Great Global Puzzle Challenge with Google Earth book has been a big hit here! It can be as basic or involved as you want, and it's been fun and educational.

Kids have loved the SnapCircuits big huge set with the learning guide. It's most useful when DH is there to go through it with them, because he takes it from my "this is what the book says" to "here's why what the book says is really cool and how I actually use it in real life" because he actually has a understanding of electricity and electronics that I don't have.

Synthesia program for the computer and keyboard -- they're teaching themselves to play a lot of songs.

SOTW3 read to himself -- DS1 is loving history this year.

Workboxes -- still helpful.

Big maps on the wall -- surprisingly useful for informal learning and inviting curiosity. DS1 will find a random spot upon which to fixate, and then start asking questions about the location.

(Okay, pretty much everything I've used for DS1 has been a hit and a good fit this year.)

[daijobu]

I'm going to praise Make: Electronics by Charles Platt again.  It takes you far, far beyond resistors and LEDs into the world of 555 timers, decade counters, and logic gates.  Really great stuff, and excellent preparation for future EEs as well as hobbyists.  Sourcing materials can be tricky and expensive, but if you're type A and love to research and shop online, this will be up your alley.  My dd's and I are learning a lot.